Dow Today: 3M (MMM) Higher

Editor's Note: Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of TheStreet, Inc. or any of its contributors including Jim Cramer or Stephanie Link.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) is trading up 113 points (+0.7%) at 16,470 as of Thursday, Dec 26, 2013, 1:35 p.m. ET. During this time, 102.4 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 373.3 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,606 issues advancing vs. 1,369 declining with 161 unchanged.

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The Dow component leading the way higher looks to be 3M (NYSE: MMM), which is sporting a $1.39 gain (+1%) bringing the stock to $138.38. This single gain is lifting the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 10.52 points or roughly accounting for 9.3% of the Dow's overall gain. Volume for 3M currently sits at 1.1 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 2.8 million shares.

3M has a market cap of $91.13 billion and is part of the conglomerates sector and conglomerates industry. Shares are up 47.5% year to date as of Tuesday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.5%.

3M Company operates as a diversified technology company worldwide.

TheStreet Ratings rates 3M as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity, expanding profit margins and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow.